Using technology to teach English to the elderly

can older people learn English as efficiently online as in person?

Karin Petko (Author), Janez Skela (Mentor)

Abstract

Loss of different abilities and memory is often associated with ageing, but lately, the concept of active ageing has become more prominent, bringing to action the idea of offering different activities and courses for the elderly to do and study – either to satisfy their needs or to fulfil their wishes. Plenty of theoretical sources and practical studies prove that the elderly have a need and desire to learn. While the focus is on practical knowledge, they also wish to learn for leisure, and one of such topics is languages. The elderly want to study (languages) to keep mentally active and to socialise with their peers because the retirement period is when they finally have time to do it. We need to keep in mind that adult education is also very prone to different barriers and deterrents such as health, programme options, money, and motivation. Therefore, offered programmes need to be constructed with their users in mind and be flexible. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, many new ways of learning have been invented and have become acceptable even in adult education. One of them is online learning, not only in the sense of a teacher having lessons online but also through online programmes that entirely replace the teacher. One of such programmes is English step by step (akk.si), designed specifically for the elderly with no pre-existing knowledge of English. In this MA thesis, the programme and its efficiency were put to the test. It turns out that while an online programme is a faster course, it is, unfortunately, less successful in terms of quality and quantity of knowledge acquired by the learners. The participants of the experiment in a live group learnt more, and their knowledge was better. They also reported feeling better than the participants of the computer group, who often felt stressed due to having to deal with technology on top of learning a new language. Regardless of the results of my experiment, teachers and creators of independent i-programmes need to keep in mind that ageing is always individualised, and every adult is different – with different abilities, wishes and characteristics, so none of the possible approaches is perfect for everyone. Yet, blended learning is also a possibility.

Keywords

adult education;elderly;learning/teaching English;i-books;blended learning;programme’s efficiency;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2022
Typology:	2.09 - Master's Thesis
Organization:	UL FF - Faculty of Arts
Publisher:	[K. Petko]
UDC:	811.111'243:374.7(043.2)
COBISS:	137919491
Views:	698
Downloads:	85
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Uporaba tehnologije pri poučevanju angleščine starejših
Secondary abstract:	Izguba različnih sposobnosti in spomina sta značilnosti pogosto povezani s staranjem, vendar pa se je v zadnjem času močno uveljavil koncept aktivnega staranja, ki udejanja idejo ponudbe različnih dejavnosti in tečajev za starejše. Vsega tega se starejši lahko udeležijo z namenom zadostitve svojim potrebam ali za uresničitve želja. Številni teoretični viri in praktične raziskave potrjujejo, da imajo starejši potrebo in željo po učenju. Čeprav se slednje osredotoča na praktično znanje, si starejši želijo tudi učenja za sprostitev, kamor pogosto sodijo tuji jeziki. Starejši si želijo učiti (jezikov), da bi ostali mentalno dejavni, z namenom druženja z vrstniki in ker je prav upokojitev obdobje, ko imajo končno čas, da to počnejo. vendar pa se moramo zavedati, da izobraževanje starejših zaznamujejo številne notranje in zunanje ovire, kot so zdravje, ponudba programov, denar, motivacija. To pomeni, da morajo biti ponujeni programi prilagodljivi in oblikovani z mislijo na svoje uporabnike. Zaradi epidemije koronavirusa so se pojavili in postali sprejemljivi številni novi načini učenja, tudi znotraj izobraževanja odraslih. Eden takih načinov je spletno učenje, pa ne le v smislu predavanj v živo preko spleta, pač pa v smislu spletnih programov, ki v celoti nadomeščajo učitelja. Eden takšnih programov je Angleščina korak za korakom (akk.si), ki je bil oblikovan posebej za starejše, ki se angleščine še nikdar niso učili. V pričujočem magistrskem delu smo analizirali omenjeni program in preizkusili njegovo učinkovitost. Izkazalo se je, da čeprav je spletni program hitrejši in krajši tečaj, je na žalost manj uspešen v smislu kvalitete in kvantitete znanja, ki ga s programom pridobijo udeleženci. Udeleženci eksperimenta, ki so tečaj opravljali v živo, so se naučili več in njihovo znanje je bilo tudi bolj kakovostno. Tudi poročila o njihovem počutju so bila pozitivnejša od udeležencev računalniške skupine, ki so pogosto občutili stres zaradi sočasne uporabe računalnika in učenja novega jezika. Ne glede na rezultate eksperimenta, se morajo učitelji in ustvarjalci samostojnih spletnih programov zavedati, da je staranje vedno individualiziran proces in da je vsak odrasel drugačen – z drugačnimi sposobnostmi, željami in značilnostmi. Zatorej ni noben izmed pristopov k učenju novega jezika popoln za vse. Seveda pa še vedno obstaja možnost kombiniranega učenja.
Secondary keywords:	izobraževanje odraslih;starejši;učenje/poučevanje angleščine;i-učbeniki;kombinirano učenje;učinkovitost programa;magistrska dela;
Type (COBISS):	Master's thesis/paper
Study programme:	1011040
Embargo end date (OpenAIRE):	1970-01-01
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Ljubljani, Filozofska fak., Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko
Pages:	135 str.
ID:	17632331